Cairo: The City Victorious

ISBN: 0679446516

Author: Rodenbeck, Max

Condition: New

A dazzling cultural excavation of one of the world's greatest cities--from itsancient beginnings, through the heights of medieval splendor, to the presentday--by a gifted writer who has spent much of his life in Cairo.The seat of pharaohs and sultans, the prize of conquerors from Alexander toNapoleon, Cairo has never stopped reinventing itself. Even in this century,as Max Rodenbeck shows us, the city has transformed itself yet again--froma glamorous European outpost into the nationalistic capital of the Arab world.And, most recently, we have been witness to contemporary Cairo grapplingwith a population explosion that strains every aspect of city life beyond capacity.From its vantage atop the plateau of Giza, the Sphinx has witnessed it all: forty-five centuries of a city evolving on the river plain below it. "The Victorious" iswhat Arabs call Cairo, and its indomitable spirit still merits the name.To this richly textured story Rodenbeck brings a keen eye for telling detail,gained from years of wandering Cairo's markets, chatting in its cafs, andburrowing in its dusty libraries. From the hashish dens to the salons ofcontemporary Cairo, Rodenbeck explores the city's stark contrasts. Ancienttombs abut skyscrapers and genteel colonial mansions, and the people, pulledbetween the cultural poles of Paris and Mecca, struggle with the double burdenof an incomparably rich past and a challenging future.With wit and an understanding that comes from a deep-seated love of the place,Rodenbeck brings Cairo to life in all its chaotic beauty. Fusing the excitement oftravel with the stimulation of history, Cairo: The City Victorious is an epic,resonant work.